Improvement in the manufacture of illuminating-gas



i UNTTED STATES PATENT Critican.

WILLIAM ELMER, OF NEV YORK, N.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF lLLUMlNATlNG-GAS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,905, dated September l5, 1863.

.To a/ZZ whom t may con/cern.:

Be it known that I, WiLLIAM ELMER, M. D., ofthe city, county, andState of' New York, have invented certain new and useful kImprovements in the Manufacture of Illuminating-Gas; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents a front elevation of one division of a row of apparatus for manufacturing illuminating-gas according to the principle of my invention. Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of the same through the centers of the retorts. Fig. 3 represents avertical sec tion of the same transversely to the retorts, following the linerrx of Fig. 2. Fig. trepresents an elevation of the rear of the division, and Fig. 5 represents a vertical longitudinal section of the condenser of the foreign 'matters from the hydrogen. 4

In two previous patents, issued to me upon the 4th day of August, A. D. 1863, I described a process and apparatus for manufacturing illuminating-gas by decomposing hydrocarbons in the presence of hydrogen produced by the decomposition of water.

The present invention consists in certain improvements in apparatus for producing illuminating-gas upon thisprinciple.

The object of the rst part of my invention is to produce the hydrogen in a separate vessel from that in which the ole'tiant gas is formed, and it consists, substantially, ot' the combination of the following devices or their equivalents, viz: First-,a retort in which water is decomposed to furnish hydrogen; second, a retort in which a iuid hydro-carbon is decomposed by heat; third, one or more furnaces for heating the retorts to the required temperature; fourth, apparatus to supply water in regulated quantities to the retort in which it is decomposed, whether such water be supplied in liquid form or in the form ot' steam or vapor; fifth, apparatus to. supply a fluid hydrocarbon in regulated quantities to the retort in which it is decomposed; sixth, a connection to conduct the hydrogen from the retort in which it is formed to the retort in which the liuid hydrocarbon is decomposed. v

The object of `.he second part of my invention is to free the hydrogen from condensable substances previous to its introduction into the retort in which the oletiant gas is y formed and it consists of the combination of the retort for the decomposition of the water lits generation and previous to its decomposition.

The fourth part ot' my invention consists of the combination of the hydrogen-retort (or its equivalent for supplying hydrogen) with the retort for the formation ofthe illuminating-gas through the intervention of a heating apparatus, so that the hydrogen is heated after its formation and previous to its manufacture into j illuminating-gas.

All the parts of' my invent-ion are embodied in the apparatus represented in the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one mode of carrying my invention into effect. The water is decomposedto furnish hydrogen in a retort, A, which is heated by a lire in a furnace, B, beneath it, and as a lower temperal ture is required for decomposing the iiuid hydrocarbons than for decomposing water the retort G, in which the hydrocarbon is to be decomposed, is heated by the same fire as that for decomposiu g the water, both retorts being set in the same brick-work, and the flame, after passing around thelatter retort, A, being conducted by iiues d to the former,

and being caused to envelop it before passing out ofthe retort-chamber E through suitable slots, f, in the arch over the retort. .These retorts may both be made ofl iron or fire-clay. In the example represented the hydrogen-retort A is made of treclay,and the hydrocarbonretort C ot' cast-iron. ln the present example the water to be decomposed is supplied to the hydrogen-retort A in the form of steam, which, in order to embody the third part of the invention, is heated to a high temperature previous to its introduction into the retort.

1n order to obtain steam economically, it is f furnished by a boiler, G, which is heated by retort C, and the dues h j are arranged in such manner that by varying the position of a damper, K, more or less of these products :may be caused to pass around the boiler. Thus the evaporation may he varied, and the quantity of Water supplied in the form of steam to the hydrogen-retort may be regulated. The damper K in the present example consists ot' a fire-brick slab suspended froma lever, andv counterbalanced by a Weight, L, so that it can be easily moved, and will retain the position in Which it is placed. lt is arranged in such manner,.as shown by the drawings, that as one ue, h, is opened the other, j, is obstructed, and vice versa, so that While the draft of the furnace remains the same the quantity of heat transmitted to the boiler G is varied by moving the damper. The steam from the boiler G passes through a pipe, l, inclosed in the retort-chamber, so that the steam is highly heated previous to its introduction into the hydrogen-retoi t. This retort is charged with some material which will de'- Compose Water, abstracting the oxygen and setting free the hydrogen. The substanceV which I prefer to use for decomposing the water is metallic zinc. This maybe charged in a metallic state into the retort, so thatvwhen the heat is raised sufficiently the steam Will act upon its vapor; or an ore ot' zinc whiehvvill yield metallic zinc in the form of vapor When sufciently heated may be placedin the retort. The boiler G is provided with a feed-pipe, m, leading from some elevated source of supply, so that Water can be conveniently supplied t0 the boiler when required.

The hydrogen-retort A is connected with the hydrocarbon-retort C, and in order to embody the second part of the invention a l condenser,P, is interposed in the connection between the two retorts, so thatsuch condensable matters as pass from the hydrogen-retort with the hydrogen may be separated from it before it combines with the products of the decomposition of the hydrocarbon. The condenser in this example consists of a series of cells, R R2 .R3 R4, three ot' which are separated by grated partitions s, while the last cell, R4,con tains Water, under whose surface the hydrogen and its accompanying substances are in troduced through a pipe, t, leading from the next preceding cell. The hydrogen passes from the condenser to the hydrocarbouretort C through a pipe, n, which,in order to embody the fourth part of the invention, is passed through the retort-chamber E, so that the hydrogen is highly heated before its introduction into the hydrocarbon-retort. vIn the present example the hydrocarbon used is supplied to the hydrocarbon-retort in a liquid form from` a reservoir, c, which is mounted upon the masonry of the retort-chambers. This vessel communicates with the` hydrocarbon-retort by means ot` a pipe, a, fitted With a screw-valve, b, means of which the supply of hydrocarbon may be regulated. The hydrocarbon-retort may not contain any solidsubstance; but it is better to till it partially with fragments of bricks, so as to afford an increased decomposing-surface. The gas produced in the hydrocarbon-retort escapes through avpipe, `e, and may be conducted directly to a gas-holder, or may first be passed through a condenser to collect any liquid products that may be carried off in the form of vapor with the illuminating-gas.

- Oleijant gas vcontains about eighty-six per cent., by weight, ofcarbon, and fourteen perceutfof hydrogen. The hydrocarbons which are available for the manufacture of illuminating-gas contain a much larger percentage of carbon, and as the composition of almost.

each one differs from another the quantity of hydrogen to be supplied to the hydrocarbonretort varies according to the hydrocarbon which is used. Water contains a certain determined percentage of hydrogen, so that' when the quantity of hydrogen required for any particular hydrocarbon is known it may be supplied practically with almost chemical accuracy -by decomposinga certain calculated quantity of Water in the hydrogen-retort Afor each portion of hydrocarbon supplied to the hydrocarbon-retort. Thns,when petroleum, or rock-oil, as itis frequently called, is the hydrocarbon used, vit is, expedient to decompose six parts, by measure, of water for each eight parts, by measure, of petroleum suppliedto the hyd io'eaibon-retoi t.

In order to enable the Workmen to supply` the proper quantity of water with facility, the

interior of the boiler G in the present ex-v ample is made of the same horizontal section as the interior of the hydrocarbon-reservoir V, and each is provided With a glass gage, gy, to shouT the height of the liquidwithin the vessel. A scale of equal divisions is applied to each gage, and the lengths of the,

divisions on the water-gage g bear the same proportion to the lengths of those of the hydrocarbon-ga-ge e that the quantity of Water to be decomposed bears to the quantity ot' hydrocarbon to be decomposed at the sametime. Thus, if, as before supposed, petroleum be the hydrocarbon used, the lengths of the divisions of the water-gage should be sixeighths of those of the hydrocarbon-gage.

Then, when the flow of' hydrocarbon is `ad-Y justed, the evaporation of the Water is adjusted by regulating the damper K so that the liquids stand on their two gage-scales at the same division, or fraction thereof, as both vessels are progressively emptied.

When lthe apparatus thus described is in` regular operation, the steam generated in thel i boiler passes through the pipes l Z L2 and enters the hydrogen-retort A. It is there decomposed, the oxygen combining Withy the material used for that purpose, While the liberated hydrogen passes through the pipes w fn and the condenser P to the hydrocarbonretort C. The hydrocarbon employed passes from the reservoir V through the pipe a to the hydrocarbon-retort, in which itis decome posed in the presence of thel hydrogen, and the products from the hydrocarbon-retort pass from the apparatus through the pipe e to the gas-holder.

-Any hydrocarbon which can be reduced to a` liquid and then decomposed by heat-21s, forexample, rosin and tallow-may be successfully used in the apparatus thus described; but the petroleum and the crude paraftine oils obtained by the distillation of bituminous coals are preferred by me. The hydrogen-retort should be kept at a temperature i ust high enough to vaporize a sutcient quantity of the zinc to decompose the water, and this temperature may be regulated by varying the admission of air to the ash-pit of the furnace by means of a register. But with ordinary worklnen it is hardly practicable to adjust the temperature with exactness; hence an excess of the zinc is vaporized, and some of it passes with the hydrogen to the condenser.

The products of the decomposition of water by commercial zinc are hydrogen, oxide of zinc, and some immaterial traces of other 1 substances. 'lhe larger quantity ofthe oxide of zinc remains in the hydrogen-retort, and is removed previous to supplying a new charge of zinc. A portion of the oxide is, however, found in the condenser. The oxide is collected and washed to tit it for market.

In using any hydrocarbon whose chemical composition is unknown, a preliminary analysis .of it should be made to determine the quantity of hydrogen, and consequently of Water, required to convert all its carbon into oletiant gas 5 or the hydrocarbon may be decomposed in connection with a previouslyestimated quantity of water, and the resulting gas may be tested for its quality, then from this test the proper quantity ot' water to be used may be determined. In commencing the process, a quantity of hydrogen sufiicient to drive out the atmospheric air from the apparatus should be formed before the decomposition of the hydrocarbon is commenced, then the decomposition will commence in an atmosphere of hydrogen; or,in other words, the hydrogen will be present while the products ofthe decomposition of the hydrocarbon are in their nascent state and ata high tempera ture, when an immediate recombination of them with the hydrogen results, and if the hydrogen be supplied in properly-regulated quantities, as has been described, that particular combination of carbon and hydrogen known as olefiant gas 7 is produced.

This invention is not confined to the pre cise apparatus represented in the accompanying drawings, as it must be evident to those skilled in the art to which it appertains that the apparatus may be varied without substantially changing its mode of operation. Thus,

the rst part of my invention may be embodied substantially by substituting in the combination some other means of supplying hydrogen in regulated quantities for the hydrogen-retort and water-supplying apparatus represented in the apparatus I have described, the characteristic feature of the apparatus being to supply hydrogen in regulated qualitities to a retort in which a hydrocarbon is decomposed. Moreover, the first part of the invention may be used without the remainder, or with any one or two of the remaining parts. 0n the other hand, it' deemed expedient, the water may be supplied directly to the hydrogen-retort by a regulating apparatus similar to that applied to the hydrocarbon feed-pipe; but in this case the hydrogen-retort must be ot' sudicient capacity to both vaporize and decompose the water. When this modification is adopted, the water maybe heated previous to its introduction into the retort by causing it to pass through a heated pipe. If rosin be the hydrocarbon employed, the hydrocarbonreservoir V should he so arranged that it can be kept at a temperature sufficient to maintain the rosin in a liquid form. This may be done by setting it in the brick-work in manner similar to the boiler G.

In place of regulating the damper K, that controls the evaporation of the water, by hand, it may be combined with a self-acting damperregulator operated by the pressure ot' the steam generated in the boiler, provided the steam be generated under sufficient pressure to operate a damper-regulator. In this case, however, it would be necessary to place a valve or cock in the steam-pipe to prevent the steam from passing too rapidly to the hydrogen-retort.

The steam-boiler G should be provided with a safety-valve applied to the nozzle x. It should also be provided with a steam-pressure gage. As, however, the construction and ap` plication ot' such instruments are well known, it has not been deemed necessary to represent them in the drawings of the apparatus.

Having thus described the best mode that I am acquainted with of embodying my improvements in a working apparatus, I do not claim the separa-te parts which constitute my combinations but What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the following devices, or their equivalents, viz first, a retort in which water is decomposed to furnish hydrogen; second, a retort in which a fluid hydrocarbon is decomposed by heat; third, one or more furnaces for heating the retorts to the required temperature; fourth, apparatus for supplying water in regulated quantities to the retort in which it is decomposed; fifth, apparatus to supply duid hydrocarbon in regulated quantities to the retort in which it is decomposed; sixth, a connection to conduct the hydrogen from the place where it is formed to the hydrocarbon-retort, the combination as a whole constituting an apparatus for manufacturing illuminating-gas, and operating substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the hydrogen-retort with the hydrocarbon-retort through the intervention of a condenser, substantially as set tervention of a. heating apparatus, substanforth. tiaily as set forth.

3. The combination of the boiler for gener- In testimony whereof' Ithave hereunto subating steamwith the hydrogen-retort through' scribed my name. i the intervention of a. heating apparatus, sub- WILLIAM -ELMERl stantially as set forth. Witnesses:

4. The combination of the hydrogen-retort E. S. RENWICK, with the hydrocarbon-retort through lthe in- WV. L. BENNEM. 

